Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-11-19
A FAMOUS PREACHER.
SPURGEON, THE REAL BeEChER OF
ENGLAND.
Rema, ,Sabie Career of the Great Calvin.
ist-His Personal Characteristics-The
Charm of His Voice and His Practical
Philanthropy.


Charm Of His Voice and His Practical
Philanthropy.
Especial Correspondence
! LONDON, Oct 3l.-Spurgeon leave the Bap-
| tist church. Ii Wesley had renounced Meth
o,.ism or brigham Young discarded Mormon
| ism the surprise and the consequences could
not have been greater. To most Americans
| Spurgeon has these twenty years been more
than a mere name. What Bsecher has been
to America Spurgeon has been to England,
with these notable differences: Beecher
broadened his theology. Spurgeon narrowed
| his, Beecher cultivated Cratory as fine art,
! Spurgeon abhors art and is eloquent in spite
of himself; Beecher preached to congregs-
| tions of 2,5oo, Spurgcom to never fewer than
6,OO0, twice each Sunday.
We are rot now concerned with the tboO
logian, beyond noting tine extraordinary facs
that the most famous living Baptist preacher
| gives up his Baptist creed and practice for
| that Of the Presbyterians, solely because the
latter hold the rigid tenets Of Calvinism
which the Baptists are giving up. We pro
pose to portray Spurgeon, the plain man
(he never would use the term Rev.. %
striking a specimen of the true John Bull as
can be found in 1.-THE tight little island to-
Sp" - lEs LiaSt " uiy
modest public man in England. He sticks to
his work, avoids self advertisement. abhorS
fuss and adulation, yet he is by universal
consent OF all sectarians and politicians one
of the mos: potent soci::l forces in the land
Let us glance first at his clerical rise and
progress. He was born in 1884; got the ordi-
nary schooling, and no more; became ..con-
verted' at Is; was a village preacher at 10;
WAS the most seuntipnal and bntly biScuSS.sd
pulpiteer in England when he WIS ~; at "a
his followers laid the foundation stone of the
Metropolitan tabernacle, which cost $780,
and from the opening service, in 1861 lat
which l was present., down to today, Spur
geon has never preached to fewer than 6,O00
and his average congregation is over 200
He gained notoriety at first by lurid and ex-
travagant word pictures. but he grew into a
mellower and more rational style. He soon
won public esteem, not because of but in
spite OF the straitness of his creed. The public
take their man by weight in the long run
and II was Surgeons devotion to practical.
good work and his common sense philan-
thropy that won him the admiration of the
public at large
His physique is not that OF the ideal man
Of brain and immense energy, for Spurgeon
possesses the latter in a marvellous degree.
He Is short, about five feet six fat and puffy; |
his checks hang down with fatness," his |
teeth project enough to prevent his closing |
,his lips in pronouncing the letter NJ, which |
with him sounds like V. His forehead looks |
lower and narrower than il really is because |
bis straight black hair grows low upon it. |
He has no visible neck. He dresses, as did |
Beecher, in plain, uncisrical garb. Alto |
gether, sts him on a platform among other |
parsons, You would very eNcusably mistake |
Spurgeon for decent little well To do grocer |
or dry goods dealer, with a turn for acting |
deacon. But The moment he opens his mouth !
Or, rather, the Hionent he uses his voice, |
for his mouth Is always open-you feel the |
strange charm OF its clear, mellow, bell like |
t6ne, 50 musical ami so distinct is every |
syllable. l have heard most of the great |
orators OF the old world and the new,
but none have the voice OF Spurgeon. His |
huge tabernacle, solemn sounding as its |
name may be, is quite gay and festive mu-
sic hail within 1t is oval, has three gal
leries running right round the building |
made of light, open iron work painted
white. No pulpit, no organ An organ
would he lost in the mighty sound of that
every individual of which
seems to thin; that the glory of the service |
his own lung power As an
experiment l have climbed up to the little
dug out of the very roof above the
top gallery and at the farthest distance pos
sible from tho preacher. His platform is
simply part of the first gallery projected
slightly forward We can scarcely dis
tinguish the preacher among the crowd of
icacons and distinguished etrangere who
sit beside him, and even when he steps for
ward TO the railing For he has not even
reading desk Ike that of Beecher's We cam
not properly see the play of his face. But
that melndious voice sails right up to our
,srs so clearly and beautifully that without
aly straining We hear every syllable. He
peaks without the least effort, and rarely
houtS
His sermon is only one part Of his work 1t
S Questionable whether a reader of Scripture
essons should water them down by his own
comments Few can do it with
1ut pointing the contrast between the sub
imc and the ridiculous. Yet Spurgeon
always does this, and it is fair TO say that the
luaintnoSS of his comments, their eptness
and felicity of phrasing really edify, and
their wit amuses without shocking
he pruprieties. But this is only another way
,f saying that Spurgeon is a splendid master
If racy AngioSa John Bright and
spurgeon may be cassed equal as speakers of
trong mother English, pure and undetiled.
Gladstone is strong orator, but he, being
irst and foremost n severely classical scholar
which the other two are not, Grams his
speeches with pondcrous Latinity, and is thus
ess en- rapport with the uncultured people
han are these who talk to them in their own
native tongue.
intellectually. Spurgeon does not rank with
.ither Wesley, Chalmers, Charming, Theodore
Parker, Beecher, or the famous divines of the
English church. By temperament and train
ng he takes limited views of momentous
ssues. but his obounding bonhomie, his ire
Drcssible geniality, counterbalances the de-
ects Of L.s mental qualities. In preaching
his bubbles up through even the most dismal
about beliefs, and in this inSpir-
ng quality lies the secret of his success AMI
,ower. Some one has applied the flattering
phrase, ''the Beecher of England" to DR..
Parker. The term is wholly out of place ap-
Dlied to one who is before all else an artificial
,rator, and whose name is not identified with
aastorai work proper. Sparg-on, however,
S more truly ''the Beecher Of England, J." be-
,ause he has all Beechers rich fund of
human nature, enthusiasm for the people and
personal devotion TO the welfare of the poor.
What has Spurgeon done with his opportu-
mites,
He inspired his people to build a noble set
If orphanages for girls and the other for
1oys-long rows of charming cottages, in
closed in spacious grounds, SO that the chill
lren can be divided into families of ten and
live home lives under the motherly care Of
matron in each cottage, these mothers being
widows or others Of high character, known
10 Mr.. Surgeons friends, and who have suf-
fered advorsity. There are some 400 of these
children, taken from any age and trained for